Celebrating Evangeline

The St. Martinville Garden Club will be celebrating the recently renovated Evangeline Oak Park with events scheduled throughout the month of April. For the first time in the city’s history, over the course of five events, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie will be read in its entirety, beginning and ending under the legendary oak.

• Saturday, April 1—9:30 AM-10:30 AM—Part the First, Canto 1 & Canto 2 will be read at Evangeline Oak Park. Coffee and doughnuts provided by the Chamber of Commerce. Park benches are available for seating, but seats are limited. Please consider bringing a lawn chair. The boulevard will be closed to traffic during the reading.

• Wednesday, April 5—6:30 PM-7:30 PM—Part the First, Canto 3 & Canto 4 will be read at the St. Martin Parish Library in St. Martinville—201 Porter Street

• Wednesday, April 19—6:30 PM-7:30 PM—Part the First, Canto 5 & Part the Second, Canto 1 will be read at the St. Martin Parish Library in St. Martinville—201 Porter Street. Sneak peek of a new animated documentary short by filmmaker Jillian Godshall about the legend of Evangeline.

• Saturday, April 22—9:30 AM-10:30 AM—Part the Second, Canto 2 & Canto 3 will be read at the Acadian Memorial—121 S. New Market St, near Evangeline Oak Park. The Chamber of Commerce will provide coffee and doughnuts. This is an indoor venue, and seating is available.

• Saturday, April 29—9:30 AM-10:30 AM—Part the Second, Canto 4 & Canto 5 will be read at Evangeline Oak Park. Coffee and doughnuts provided by the Chamber of Commerce. Park benches are available for seating, but seats are limited. Please consider bringing a lawn chair. The winner of the contest to name the other live oak in Evangeline Oak Park will be revealed.